As I look back on almost a year of ‘Striving for Biblical Womanhood’s’ existence on the interwebs, I realise just how many times I have promised to blog about something.. and have failed. I can count about 5 instances. Dearest reader, my sincerest apologies.. my only attempt of an excuse is:
Blogging.. is.. hard..
(well, up-to-date blogging is hard!)
Hopefully, this issue will be amended! (And I really do hope to keep my word on all those posts I said I’d publish)
First post in a new off-shoot of blogaroo: Striving for Biblical Womanhood
…..Welcome…..
Greet & Eat | Tasty Explorations | Credible Edibles!
Now, before I begin, it is my prayer that my passion in food never becomes an idol. So, please pray about this! I have found it all too easy to ‘fix my eyes on the seen‘, and to my shame, serve the created things, rather than the CREATOR! [2 Corinthians 4:17-18 & Romans 1:25] Come ON! Oh the foolishness of loving the created thing over the ACTUAL Creator!! The Creator is the one who fashions the object, who gives it meaning. In retrospect, I see my foolishness at worshipping (just by simply placing it as a higher priority) food over the God who created it all. I would find myself preferring to read recipes or food magazines over getting to know the almighty Lord better through His word, the Bible. That’s making food an idol. NO! Instead, my prayer is that we receive our food with joy and thanksgiving to God who provides it! (1 Timothy 4:4)
All I can say is this: any ‘delicious’ plate of whatever experienced now on earth is far outweighed by the glorious food we’ll be having in the New Creation (Revelation 21) So, everytime I taste a morsel of food which I absolutely delight in, I pray that I’d be reminded of God’s land of flowing milk and honey, and of joys and hope of far greater importance: i.e. (for us right now living in this pained creation), the impending return of the risen Lord Jesus, the Christ
Ok, So, What’s this new blog about?
Well, it’s a place to share what I’m learning about food. I’m becoming more convinced of how I can use food to serve/love people. There is such joy to be found in creating something (edible, of course!) and giving it to someone to reap the benefits. I am very blessed to be in a position to do that, so ….i’m going to strive to do just that! Striving to generously serve people (Christian and non-Christian), hopefully, this is one of the ways one be loving others as our Lord calls us to do. (Luke 10:27)
I hope, dear Reader, that you will learn muchly from my food endeavours. Perhaps pick up a few tips or recipes along the way to cook for your mates at work, people at uni, family…who knows! My prayer is that this be of use to you.
p.s. As I write this, I’m filled with excitement of the prospect of hosting evangelistic dinners.. ah the potential of Food Ministry (More musings on this .. later!)
Part I will just be laying the groundwork of the Biblical definition of contentment..
Part II will address more of the what contentment is, what it looks like, and “how to get it” (hint: it doesn’t happen like BAM!.. it is learned, as the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians)
Part III will be about the finer bits of contentment in various areas of girly life (e.g. body image, materialism, relationships)
The Macquarie Dictionary says that ‘Contentment is the act of having one’s desires limited to what one has.’
….. but seeing as we’re Christians, we like to listen to what the Bible says on the matter, and take that more seriously…
Here is a Bible passage that speaks about contentment –
“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you have no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:10-13 (ESV)
(One of the joys of exploring God’s word is the fruitfulness of comparing one translation with another. I find that this allows for the opportunity to have a more in-depth understanding of what is being said. So here is the NIV translation of the same passage.)
“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)
So before we go any further, I want to put this definition of contentment, of which I believe is what the Bible says. If you think God’s word says otherwise, don’t be afraid to say so! (There’s a comment box right below)
Biblical definition of contentment – Our desires are completely and ultimately satisfied in the Lord Jesus, because of the riches of His goodness, His grace, His steadfast love, and His Sovereignty. We can be so content because of what we have in Jesus.
Why bother with Biblical definitions? For Christians (i.e. those who love and follow the Lord Jesus), God’s definition of contention (or anything, really), should be our definition of contentment too!
We love lists. For as long as we can remember, women have been plagued by an itch to organise their lives into lists. Shopping lists, to-do lists. But there’s one list that inevitably lingers on or has dwelled in each and every woman’s mind…..
…………The Attributes List………
The list of attributes which a woman wishes for in her ‘ideal’ man.
It can be an impromptu list, or a carefully-thought-out one. But it’s a never-ending one, a list that stretches on to infinity – always open to change. I don’t think that God condemns the making of the “Attributes List”; in fact it’s a way of reaffirming what we look for in a husband. The problem with such a list is when the attributes we seek for don’t align with what our Heavenly Father holds in regard, or what He wants us to be seeking.
What our Father desires should be what we desire. When our Heavenly Father calls us to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself’ (Luke 10:27) then this is what we should be doing and what we pray others should be doing too. (Including future husbands!!) This is for our Lord and Saviour Christ’s sake as we present our whole body, mind, spirit to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) in light of the out-of-this-world mercy that He has shown us.
Our loves need to be aligned with His loves. And what He loves is good. What we desire needs to be shaped by what we read in His word. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) [Just a side note, as our desires are prayerfully shaped by God's Spirit to align with His own, so should our reasons be for looking out for prospective husbands, and getting married. But definitely more on this in a later post]
I’d like to share with you how beautifully and drastically my “Attributes List” has changed. I now pray that my future husband will have these traits:
Everything that I desired before, I look at and think “cool, nice, I wouldn’t mind him having those traits but it’s far from important”. What a radical change! It’s feel so good to be liberated from what the world tells you to desire or value. I only pray that the Lord would change your heart to desire what He wants! We have the privilege of prayer, the privilege of being in a personal! relationship with the loving Creator, so just ask Him! But most importantly, let us seek Him first and endmost, leaving the worries of ‘finding a husband’ in His hands. (More on this in another post)
Hey Friends,
My sincerest apologies for the slight posting drought that has come across this blogsite. I guess I haven’t been able to post as much as I’ve wanted, but by God’s grace I’d like to blog a whole lot more about all things Jesus, Bible, women, life, stuff during the 3.5 months holiday He has blessed me with. So, I’d just like to inform you all of three important posts that will coming up in around a fortnight:
Sweet as!
Signing out, with love. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all forever more, Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
The Partridge Family Show
I was watching an episode of The Partridge Family today. For those who are post 1990, (that includes me!), The Partridge Family is an old 70s American sitcom about a talented family of musicians who perform as the “Partridge Family” band. Anyway, that’s not exactly important. What struck me, though, was the staunch, hardcore feminist view that was coming from Keith Partridge’s (played by David Cassidy) “lady-friend”. A quote to note that came from her lips which I think still rings true amongst many 21st Century western-world women was,
The family unit dehumanises a woman!
The lady then went on to tell Keith that,
saying “I love you” objectifies a woman!
I’m sure, dear reader, you already know where I’m coming from. I cannot disagree more with the above two quotes!
I believe that a woman’s “humanity” is inextricably linked with her femininity. And I don’t think that there is any better way to express one’s God-given femininity, than the family roles of wife and mother! In contrast to Keith’s girlfriend’s comment, the family unit explicitly allows a woman to display her femininity! Nothing reeks more of “femininity” than the nurturing nature of a wife to her husband, and a mother to her children. Quite frankly, when I see a woman caring for a child, I see the beauty of femininity revealed. It’s something about the selfless, caring attitude shown in her action and words to the child.
Somehow, the words of Paul in Titus 2:1-4, come to mind. I guess, it all comes back to the roles of man and woman assigned by God from the very beginning. True femininity is that which is outlined by God in His word. I think the best way to show one’s femininity, as a woman, is not to go around proving one’s equality with man through bitter rivalry e.g. the vying of top corporate positions, but rather to demonstrate Christ’s love, (living according to the sound doctrine of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ Titus 2:10-15) in accordance with our defined capacities as women. e.g. lovingly supporting and helping your brothers-in-Christ, recognising godly leadership and building that up; lovingly supporting your sisters-in-Christ, your non-Christian friends; nurturing children etc. This list isn’t exhaustive and the great thing about it is that it applies not only to married women, but equally to single women out there too!
Let me know what your thoughts are about this!
You may have wondered, “What’s the big deal with biblical manhood or womanhood? At my church, our senior minister’s a male, and there’s still a male preacher who gets up each Sunday and gives a sermon. Isn’t that the end of the story to that matter??”
In short, no.
We must understand that grasping the idea of biblical manhood and womanhood affects all aspects of our lives. It affects us at the most basic level, from our relationships (the interaction between male and female), moving along towards church roles and hierarchy, and then most importantly, to how we look at Christian theology and doctrine.
Take a look at the list below of the current challenges to biblical manhood and womanhood as outlined by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (www.cbmw.org):
Gender confusion in the church
Revisions of the doctrine of God
Gender-neutral language in Bible translation
~ For the full list, see http://www.cbmw.org/Why-We-Exist#defining
We have all experienced the effects Feminism in our day-to-day lifestyle and thinking, and in our churches. For the single men and women out there, you may think that none of the gender confusion at home applies to you. But no! It does! It applies to all of us! I, as a single woman struggle to submit to the male leadership of my brothers-in-Christ, because I’m constantly being told by the world that since women and men are equal, we can lord it over men. Equally, I’m sure men struggle with taking up the male-leadership-role that God has assigned to them, and have fallen into passivity. And what about our views on motherhood and homemaking? As young and old women, we are constantly hounded by negativity towards being a stay-at-home mum. Even the name “housewife” has had to be changed to “home-executive” to fit the gender-equality ideology.
I don’t oppose gender-equality, in fact it’s biblical (Genesis 1:26-28), and hence, I’m all for it. We have God to thank for how He’s worked through the Feminist movement of the 20th Century to bring about the equality of men and women. But, there’s a lot of current “Feminist” ideas which I can’t agree with. (More to come later!)
I hope from reading the brief summary above that you realise the threat of feminism to our churches and biblical thinking is more dangerous than we give it credit for. Of particular concern, are the revisions to the doctrine of God, and gender-neutral language in Bible translations. Seriously, living for our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus is to live distinctly against the flow and culture of this “crooked and twisted generation” (Philippians 2:15), and so I think we must mend and make water-tight the cracks in our thinking made by Feminism.
Firstly, I’d like to stress that God, our Creator, is the sole expert on the matter of “Biblical Womanhood”. I do not claim to be an expert, nor will I ever be. But I do have a God-given passion for this matter which inspires me to continue seeking out what God has to say about it in the Bible, as well as seeking what other mature Christians (who have investigated this matter) have to say.
Secondly, I’d like to clarify how I will be defining “Biblical Womanhood” throughout this blog. (I know how we all love definitions!)
Biblical adjective
/ˈbɪb.lɪ.kəl/
according to the Bible
Womanhood noun
/ˈwʊm.ən.hʊd/
the state of being a woman
–
NB. I will be using the noun womanhood almost interchangeably with the other noun femininity.
In a culture which increasingly likes to blur the distinctions between masculinity and femininity, Christians are finding it harder to understand what their God-given-gender roles entail. In fact, Christians (along with the rest of the world) are finding it harder to understand the differences between man and woman, beyond the obvious biological differences. Is there a distinction at all? Can men and women take on the same roles in church? Can women preach in a congregation full of men and women? What does the Bible say about being a woman or man living in God’s world? The lack of distinction and understanding between Biblical manhood and womanhood is causing more strife within the church, as well as in marriage.
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